2014-2015 Dermatology Interview Invite Thread

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Roger Williams Med Center; Email; January 14, 2015; External
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dermal said:
What happened to the rejections tab?
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It was probably removed bc there is already a Rejections column.
 
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Vanderbilt 2nd batch of interviews 11/17/14 for 12/16; 1/6; 1/20
 
I changed the Google sheet so now only interview dates are locked. You can list interview dates in the notes section, and I can add them later. Is this agreeable?
 
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What are these Duke "waitlist" emails? I haven't heard anything from them.
 
Phew! Another business day over. In the world of long-distance running, you gotta take long battles mile by mile. While we apply into dermatology, we go day by day. See ya tomorrow. Keep it up guys & gals -- stay positive.
 
As far as I can tell, George Washington only has one spot for 2016, which is what the google doc originally said, but someone changed the doc to say that there are 4 spots...is this true? Where did you get that information?
 
drpickinpimples said:
As far as I can tell, George Washington only has one spot for 2016, which is what the google doc originally said, but someone changed the doc to say that there are 4 spots...is this true? Where did you get that information?
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Rejection ERAS message:
On behalf of The George Washington University Department of Dermatology, I'd like to thank you for your application to our residency program. Unfortunately, we are unable to invite you to interview with our program. We received 441 applications and are interviewing 39 applicants for 4 positions.
 
drpickinpimples said:
As far as I can tell, George Washington only has one spot for 2016, which is what the google doc originally said, but someone changed the doc to say that there are 4 spots...is this true? Where did you get that information?
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Technically there are 2 George Washington programs as per their official name, one with George Washington University proper, and one with Washington Hospital Center.
 
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dermal said:
Was Carrilion 2015 or 2016 or both?
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It would have to be both as I believe the program just started this past July. So they would need to recruit for both to get the full complement. of residents for every year.
 
Yes, but another new program Long Island North Shore has only done their 2015 invites so far
 
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just a friendly reminder for everyone's who's looking @ google document. If you are signed in to gmail and have your chat open, your name will be shown under the list of people who are currently looking at the doc, not just anonymous animal/thing (top right corner). It shouldn't matter much, but just be aware!
 
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int3rwebz said:
just a friendly reminder for everyone's who's looking @ google document. If you are signed in to gmail and have your chat open, your name will be shown under the list of people who are currently looking at the doc, not just anonymous animal/thing (top right corner). It shouldn't matter much, but just be aware!
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What do you mean, "have your chat open"?

FYI too...In addition to always having sooo many other dermatology applicants at my prelim interviews, I've also heard people talk about this Google document in person about 5 times now. Good to know everyone is neurotic.
 
dermie1985 said:
What do you mean, "have your chat open"?

FYI too...In addition to always having sooo many other dermatology applicants at my prelim interviews, I've also heard people talk about this Google document in person about 5 times now. Good to know everyone is neurotic.
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Anyone in Derm who says they aren't paying attending to the Derm interview invite thread or now the Google Docs due to @PatsyStone's great idea, is lying. People want to know if their app has been looked at and if decisions have been made and this is the closest thing to that. That being said, it will definitely rev up people's nerves even higher than they already are.
 
Baylor College of Medicine Invitation - interview date 01/08/15 - rotator
 
Ok I gotta say University of Michigan's rejection email was quite possibly the nicest email ever. I don't even care they rejected me.
 
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easypeasyMD said:
Ok I gotta say University of Michigan's rejection email was quite possibly the nicest email ever. I don't even care they rejected me.
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So true! Same here. Is it possible to feel good being rejected? Cuz that's what this felt like :)
 
dermie1985 said:
What do you mean, "have your chat open"?

FYI too...In addition to always having sooo many other dermatology applicants at my prelim interviews, I've also heard people talk about this Google document in person about 5 times now. Good to know everyone is neurotic.
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I don't get this whole "try to play off the fact that I'm neurotic" mentality. Residency interviews are one of the most important next steps in determining your career. If you are able to not have curiosity over if/when/where these might occur, then more power to you. In addition, if you are capable of this, you have had a very different path to dermatology than me. Neurotic level curiosity about one's chances for interviews is only natural given the abundant sacrifices the typical derm applicant must make. Some people are certainly better at controlling this curiosity and not letting it eat them alive, but to deny it and talk about it as if it is a bad thing is short-sighted in my opinion.
 
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Yo-- is the harvard invite med/derm or med too??
AND agreed- Michigan is making my heart break with their niceness
 
coagulase said:
I don't get this whole "try to play off the fact that I'm neurotic" mentality. Residency interviews are one of the most important next steps in determining your career. If you are able to not have curiosity over if/when/where these might occur, then more power to you. In addition, if you are capable of this, you have had a very different path to dermatology than me. Neurotic level curiosity about one's chances for interviews is only natural given the abundant sacrifices the typical derm applicant must make. Some people are certainly better at controlling this curiosity and not letting it eat them alive, but to deny it and talk about it as if it is a bad thing is short-sighted in my opinion.
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Agree. Neurotic is probably the wrong word choice. I guess it would be better for everyone's mental health though but it's only natural to want to know if you're on track or not. All the more reason to drink. :hungover:
 
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coagulase said:
I don't get this whole "try to play off the fact that I'm neurotic" mentality. Residency interviews are one of the most important next steps in determining your career. If you are able to not have curiosity over if/when/where these might occur, then more power to you. In addition, if you are capable of this, you have had a very different path to dermatology than me. Neurotic level curiosity about one's chances for interviews is only natural given the abundant sacrifices the typical derm applicant must make. Some people are certainly better at controlling this curiosity and not letting it eat them alive, but to deny it and talk about it as if it is a bad thing is short-sighted in my opinion.
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I think you are over-analyzing a facetious (and frivolous) comment I made about derm interviewees....

Though, I will say I listened to a NPR story recently about everyone's obsession with constantly checking cell phones for emails, Facebook status updates, etc. that likened our human mentality to that of rats in operant conditioning chamber experiments (where they would continue to press a lever, even though they received a reward only 1 out of 5 or 10 times). It does add some neurotic (but apparently universally neurotic) element to it.
:)
 
dermie1985 said:
I think you are over-analyzing a facetious (and frivolous) comment I made about derm interviewees....

Though, I will say I listened to a NPR story recently about everyone's obsession with constantly checking cell phones for emails, Facebook status updates, etc. that likened our human mentality to that of rats in operant conditioning chamber experiments (where they would continue to press a lever, even though they received a reward only 1 out of 5 or 10 times). It does add some neurotic (but apparently universally neurotic) element to it.
:)
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I'm not over-analyzing your comment. Plenty of people talk about how neurotic people are who apply to derm. All I meant was that I completely understand neurotic tendencies when it comes to something as important as interviews. Interviews have a direct impact on the rest of your career. It is ok to be neurotic with something this important. Neurotically checking the cell phone or Facebook is an entirely different story. Constantly checking Facebook is, in my opinion, equivalent to wasting your life. Now time for that drink!
 
coagulase said:
I'm not over-analyzing your comment. Plenty of people talk about how neurotic people are who apply to derm. All I meant was that I completely understand neurotic tendencies when it comes to something as important as interviews. Interviews have a direct impact on the rest of your career. It is ok to be neurotic with something this important. Neurotically checking the cell phone or Facebook is an entirely different story. Constantly checking Facebook is, in my opinion, equivalent to wasting your life.
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Compared to your average medical student, your med student applying to derm has to be more "neurotic" when it comes to checking off certain boxes. It definitely is a test of mental faculties when the rest of your classmates are getting IM, Peds, PM&R, Rads, Anesthesia etc. interviews out the wazoo and you're just sitting waiting and hoping a derm program will find your application interesting enough to select for interview (and if you have tons of people from your school applying for derm, then you have to be even more unique).

If you check the GoogleDocs at nearly all times during the day, there is never less than 10-15 people checking and logged in.
 
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DermViser said:
Compared to your average medical student, your med student applying to derm has to be more "neurotic" when it comes to checking off certain boxes. It definitely is a test of mental faculties when the rest of your classmates are getting IM, Peds, PM&R, Rads, Anesthesia etc. interviews out the wazoo and you're just sitting waiting and hoping a derm program will find your application interesting enough to select for interview (and if you have tons of people from your school applying for derm, then you have to be even more unique).

If you check the GoogleDocs at nearly all times during the day, there is never less than 10-15 people checking and logged in.
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Agreed. For those of you out there who may be "pre-derm" and just watching this thread play out, the fear is real. A 260+, AOA at top 25 school, research, strong extracurricular involvement and LoRs has yielded me 2 interviews so far. There's still some time, but I'm not exactly in the confident situation I was hoping for after busting ass for 3 years. I think my class has a large number of derm applicants, so I'm sure that's not helping, but still it's a little disappointing. Not trying to discourage anyone from derm, because I'm confident things will work out. Just make sure you know your competitiveness and what you're up against. Nothing is guaranteed.
 
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doctor85 said:
Agreed. For those of you out there who may be "pre-derm" and just watching this thread play out, the fear is real. A 260+, AOA at top 25 school, research, strong extracurricular involvement and LoRs has yielded me 2 interviews so far. There's still some time, but I'm not exactly in the confident situation I was hoping for after busting ass for 3 years. I think my class has a large number of derm applicants, so I'm sure that's not helping, but still it's a little disappointing. Not trying to discourage anyone from derm, because I'm confident things will work out. Just make sure you know your competitiveness and what you're up against. Nothing is guaranteed.
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Wow, I'm surprised, although you're right, if you have a lot of derm applicants from your school (not surprising as u go to a top 25), 1 program can't interview all your school's applicants. You'll have a better idea after Thanksgiving as interviews tend to go out in spurts. Was your research all in Derm?
 
doctor85 said:
Agreed. For those of you out there who may be "pre-derm" and just watching this thread play out, the fear is real. A 260+, AOA at top 25 school, research, strong extracurricular involvement and LoRs has yielded me 2 interviews so far. There's still some time, but I'm not exactly in the confident situation I was hoping for after busting ass for 3 years. I think my class has a large number of derm applicants, so I'm sure that's not helping, but still it's a little disappointing. Not trying to discourage anyone from derm, because I'm confident things will work out. Just make sure you know your competitiveness and what you're up against. Nothing is guaranteed.
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To add this, at an interview, I was amazed that 1/3 of the applicants had taken a derm research year in med school. Perhaps it is naive to assume that a research year is a golden ticket to a spot
 
DermViser said:
Wow, I'm surprised, although you're right, if you have a lot of derm applicants from your school (not surprising as u go to a top 25), 1 program can't interview all your school's applicants. You'll have a better idea after Thanksgiving as interviews tend to go out in spurts. Was your research all in Derm?
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Mostly derm. Not MD/PhD or taking a year off kind of productivity, but still enough to check the derm research box and show commitment over time.
PatsyStone said:
To add this, at an interview, I was amazed that 1/3 of the applicants had taken a derm research year in med school. Perhaps it is naive to assume that a research year is a golden ticket to a spot
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I didn't take the year off. It does feel like at least 1/3 of applicants are doing the year off, but not all research fellowships are equally productive. A productive year off should give you a lot of pubs (projects, book chapters, case reports) and maybe even more importantly some strong connections and LoRs.

Again, for those people applying in the future, don't assume anything.
 
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After having taken a research year off in derm, in addition to the benefits of getting pubs, abstracts, presentations, networking, great LORs, etc....I actually think the main advantage is for the interview. You can just talk much more intelligently about why you want to be a dermatologist and exactly what you think you want to do with your career after you've taken time to think about your interests and be immersed in the community. Furthermore, you can actually back this up with evidence of real experiences and accomplishments. Also, you have your whole life to be a doctor and physician. The year-off is definitely less stressful than your intern year or residency, so why not take it now when you're young if you have the means to?

I'm still actually struggling with getting interviews (though they're slowly trickling in....), but after talking to a lot of derm applicants on the prelim interview trail and at my own school, I think this is actually the part where I'll be able to shine.
 
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PatsyStone said:
To add this, at an interview, I was amazed that 1/3 of the applicants had taken a derm research year in med school. Perhaps it is naive to assume that a research year is a golden ticket to a spot
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It's becoming much more common now. It's done as a way to set yourself apart - bc everyone has good grades, good board scores, high class rank. If you see prior match lists, even the AOAers are doing a research year. It is no longer the "golden ticket" it probably once was.
 
DermViser said:
It's becoming much more common now. It's done as a way to set yourself apart - bc everyone has good grades, good board scores, high class rank. If you see prior match lists, even the AOAers are doing a research year. It is no longer the "golden ticket" it probably once was.
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What's the average number of interviews and applicant get anyways? I know the average matched was between eight and nine. Only because eight out of 11 people in the newest how many interviews thread have 6+ and for my own personal being I just want to make sure this is just an SDN skew and not reality
 
dermaway said:
What's the average number of interviews and applicant get anyways? I know the average matched was between eight and nine. Only because eight out of 11 people in the newest how many interviews thread have 6+ and for my own personal being I just want to make sure this is just an SDN skew and not reality
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Based on 2014 Charting Outcomes, the median # of programs ranked by applicants who ranked at least 1 derm program was about 7. (This doesn't take into account that some people may have received interviews but cancelled them, and/or interviewed at a program and not ranked it). This also doesn't take into account people who either didn't receive any interviews, or, received one but didn't rank any dermatology programs.

We're still looking at just under half of programs still yet to give out interviews, and probably more to come from the ones that have already have given the inevitable shuffles and cancellations. Hang in there!
 
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dermaway said:
What's the average number of interviews and applicant get anyways? I know the average matched was between eight and nine. Only because eight out of 11 people in the newest how many interviews thread have 6+ and for my own personal being I just want to make sure this is just an SDN skew and not reality
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If you see here under the section, Advice for Medical Students: http://www.dermatologyprofessors.org/files/APD March 2014 eNewsletter.pdf. "The magic number of interviews that suggests a high likelihood of matching is around 7" -- this was in the Association of Professors Of Dermatology newsletter for March 2014.

I think a lot can affect the total number of interviews you get.
  1. Having a home derm residency program in the first place
  2. the number of people in your medical school class applying for Derm (realize many of them will have backups you just won't know it yet)
  3. Being an underrepresented minority (URM)
  4. If you have an MD/PhD (esp. in something that relates to Derm), or have an MS in Clinical Research or something similar
  5. AOA can also factor greatly in the number of interviews you get (since it's an indicator of MS-1, MS-2, MS-3 performance altogether).
  6. If you come from a top tier (not only top 10) school and do very well academically, then you'll get a lot more interviews than someone who comes from a low middle to low tier med school who also does well academically - since it's more impressive that you beat the most competitive students. Look at the "Percentage who graduated from one of the 40 U.S. med schools with the highest NIH funding" in Charting the Outcomes.
  7. I also think if you have a great dermatology dept. with great mentors then you'll be able to publish more during med school, get better letters, have people who will be able to better guide you in the match. Some derm programs are stellar in their training have very well known faculty who have good networks and connections at other programs. Some derm programs don't have that great faculty who don't publish as much and don't have connections at other places, which then affects the ability to build up your CV in terms of derm research.
  8. Intangibles -- Extracurriculars that are unusual or creative
Look at the Charting Outcomes and see the mean number of contiguous ranks of those who matched vs. those who didn't match. It's definitely not a guarantee but it's a big difference.
 
Been away from the Google Doc for a few days. Just curious...
- What did the Duke "waitlist" email say? Did anyone else not receive a Duke "waitlist" email? I assume this means I'm rejected, but then trying to figure out why they didn't just send me a rejection email.
- Has Northwestern given out external invites (or is it internal only?)

Thanks guys... it's also OK to just comment on the Google Doc if you're shy.
 
dermieeast said:
Been away from the Google Doc for a few days. Just curious...
- What did the Duke "waitlist" email say? Did anyone else not receive a Duke "waitlist" email? I assume this means I'm rejected, but then trying to figure out why they didn't just send me a rejection email.
- Has Northwestern given out external invites (or is it internal only?)

Thanks guys... it's also OK to just comment on the Google Doc if you're shy.
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And this is why it's important to drink during this process. :hungover:
 
Does Maryland really only have 1 position available?
 
is this year abnormally difficult and/or slow? many of the students i've spoken with in person have expressed concern that they are not at the point (interview wise) that they should be, considering they are theoretically half way through the interview granting stages.
 
FIREitUP said:
is this year abnormally difficult and/or slow? many of the students i've spoken with in person have expressed concern that they are not at the point (interview wise) that they should be, considering they are theoretically half way through the interview granting stages.
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my deans office said it has been a terrible year for derm for our students :/

SDN is def not representative, with more users having 9+ interviews than any other amount, per the latest poll
 
All quiet on the western front...I'm ready to start hearing from some of those programs!
 
Are programs giving out more interviews these days? I know there are more applicants, but is it safe to assume that purely from a statistical standpoint, getting 10 interviews this year puts someone at the same statistical probability of matching as getting 10 interviews in the years passed?

i.e. are most programs still doing about 10 interviewees per spot or since there are so many more applicants are they interviewing more?
 
I don't think most programs give out 10 interviews/spot. Most give around 20-40 interviews (almost irregardless of # of available spots). The larger programs tend to be the higher ranked academic ones, so they don't need to rank as many students to fill their residency spots. I know personally at my home program that they could easily fill all the spots with internal candidates. They have 6 spots but still only interview 30.

There are certainly exceptions to this rule. For instance, I remember talking to applicants from prior years and they all told me UPenn tends to interview many more candidates than other programs because they like having a broad range of background and stories to hear on their interview days.
 
I don't think programs are giving out more interviews. There is no need to spend more resources if they match year after year without having to go down too far down on their rank list. I know for a fact my program is interviewing less candidates this year because they never go below ~10 on their list.
 
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dermie1985 said:
I don't think most programs give out 10 interviews/spot. Most give around 20-40 interviews (almost irregardless of # of available spots). The larger programs tend to be the higher ranked academic ones, so they don't need to rank as many students to fill their residency spots. I know personally at my home program that they could easily fill all the spots with internal candidates. They have 6 spots but still only interview 30.

There are certainly exceptions to this rule. For instance, I remember talking to applicants from prior years and they all told me UPenn tends to interview many more candidates than other programs because they like having a broad range of background and stories to hear on their interview days.
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wow those are great odds!

the only set number i know is tufts, who interviewed 36 people for 2 spots
 
Dermione Granger said:
I don't think programs are giving out more interviews. There is no need to spend more resources if they match year after year without having to go down too far down on their rank list. I know for a fact my program is interviewing less candidates this year because they never go below ~10 on their list.
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Perfect recipe for them going unmatched (and the rest of us laughing at their hubris).
 
FIREitUP said:
is this year abnormally difficult and/or slow? many of the students i've spoken with in person have expressed concern that they are not at the point (interview wise) that they should be, considering they are theoretically half way through the interview granting stages.
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In all honesty, every year that year's applicants will feel like their year was the hardest year. In reality is it true? Who knows. That being said half of the programs haven't given interviews yet, so a lot can change. Hence why I recommend against having panic attacks everytime some email gets sent by a program, or a phone call made, and wondering why you didn't get it, yada yada. The process is already stressful enough.
 
DermViser said:
In all honesty, every year that year's applicants will feel like their year was the hardest year. In reality is it true? Who knows. That being said half of the programs haven't given interviews yet, so a lot can change. Hence why I recommend against having panic attacks everytime some email gets sent by a program, or a phone call made, and wondering why you didn't get it, yada yada. The process is already stressful enough.
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i think i'm around too much neuroticism. so half the programs haven't even started? have the other half even finished granting interviews? If the other half haven't finished then that would mean that we're not even at the half way point, then, right?
 
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